Orgain Organic Protein Plant Based Powder Review — Creamy and Vegan?

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While they do sell a protein bar, Orgain is a company that focuses heavily on its shakes — kids’ shakes, whey shakes, ready-to-drink shakes. It’s probably safe to say that their flagship product is the vegan one, Organic Plant Based Protein Powder. It’s all organic, all natural, and it comes in five different flavors. I decided to take Vanilla Bean for a spin.

Orgain Organic Protein Plant Based Powder Nutrition Info

It’s noteworthy that there are no vitamins listed on the nutrition label at all, though one scoop does contain 4 percent of your daily calcium and 15 percent of your daily iron. It’s a little bit high in sodium at 8 percent of your daily intake or 180 milligrams.

Orgain Organic Protein Plant Based Powder Benefits and Effectiveness

I’ll discuss all the flavorings in the “Taste” section below, so let’s focus on the rest of the ingredients here. Firstly, this product does a good job of being soy-free while still offering complete proteins. I would have preferred it to list how much of each amino acid is contained in one scoop, but I’m nonetheless confident that pea, brown rice, chia, and hemp provide all the essential amino acids.

There’s nothing to write home about in regards to the vitamin content, since there aren’t any listed. But a definite bonus of this product is the 4 percent of your daily calcium and 15 percent of your iron, two minerals that can sometimes be a little tough to get on a plant based diet. That said, I would have liked at least some Vitamin C in this product, which helps plant based iron to absorb.

This isn’t a particularly low carb protein powder: 15 grams of carbs for 21 grams of protein. The carb count is a little controversial because some folks feel that carbs from fiber and carbs from sugar alcohol (the erythritol) don’t “count,” or don’t absorb the same way regular carbs do like starches and sugars. It’s hard to make a statement either way on this one, but I will point out that among some people, sugar alcohol can cause digestive problems like gas and cramping. It probably won’t be an issue since there are just 5 grams per scoop, but people with extra sensitive stomachs may be wary.

Orgain Organic Plant Based Protein Powder Review

Orgain Organic Protein Plant Based Powder Price

You can pick up 2.03 pounds, or twenty servings of two scoops a piece, for $26. That’s $1.30 per scoop or 6.2 cents per gram of protein. That’s a pretty middle-of-the-line price for an organic, soy-free vegan protein powder, though I will point out that most organic vegan protein powders I’ve tried at this price were lower in carbohydrates.

Orgain Organic Protein Plant Based Powder Taste

I quite liked the taste, perhaps because this has three different sweeteners: stevia, monkfruit, and erythritol. A lot of similar products I’ve tried have been overwhelmingly nutty and while Orgain is nutty — it tastes a little like defatted peanut butter with vanilla mixed in — thanks to the unusual “Creamer Base” this also tasted relatively creamy even with water.

I want to emphasize that even when it was just mixed with water, it still tasted pretty creamy. So if you’d rather keep your calories to a minimum or if you often find yourself without anything else to mix it with, you’re in luck: this tastes pretty good with water.

Mixability

There’s no lecithin in this product so I was expecting to find big clumps of powder in my mouth. Surprisingly, I found it mixed pretty well with almond milk. Mixability wasn’t a 10 out of 10 — there were still a few small clumps — but it was definitely above average. As I expected, it mixed even better with water.

The Takeaway

I quite liked Orgain, mostly because it’s creamier, it mixes better, and it has more iron than some other vegan protein powders I’ve tried. I thought it was a tiny bit expensive for the carb count and I’m never crazy about protein powders that have two scoops per serving, but this is among the better organic vegan protein powders.

I’m a journalist with over seven years' reporting experience on four continents, with most of that spent covering health-related issues. My experience includes covering cholera outbreaks in Kenya and the clubbing scene in Shanghai, which is also where I wrote my first health article for an English language magazine. (It was on diarrhea.)After returning to Australia to finish up degrees in Journalism and International Relations I wound up in New York City, where I’ve worked for Men’s Health, VICE, Popular Science and others. I try to keep health relatively simple — it’s mostly vegetables and sweat — but I live to explore the debates, the fringes, the niche, and the nitty gritty.

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